Codex: Chaos Warfleet
by CALiGeR190
Summary: Everything you need to know about the Chaos Warfleet.
1. Strike Craft

**Chaos Strike Craft**

 **Swift Death Fighter**

 **Length** : 40 metres

 **Wing span** : 15 metres

 **Crew** : 1

 **Sub-light engine** : Unknown

 **Power supply** : Unknown

 **Standard Armament** : 6 Lascannons (wing mounted)

 **Machine spirit** : hosts a Daemon or spirit of war.

 **Warp capable** : no

 **Lore** : SwiftDeath fighter design started as a project of Kelbor Hal towards the end of the Great Crusade era to eventually become the standard fighter of the Imperial army. Following the outbreak of Horus Heresy, the plan was cancelled, and Kelbore Hal's fall to Chaos and defeat on Mars at the hands of Fabricator Kane, meaning the design was taken to the Eye of Terror and presented to Abaddon the Despoiler. The design immediately going into production and becoming the standard fighter of the Chaos War fleets.

The fighter was designed to be superior to the original Fury interceptor but has lost many of its old advantages when compared to the modern Fury. The newer Imperial interceptors having warp capacity, are faster and have more than double the armaments and durability. This does not, however, mean the SwiftDeath is outclassed.

The Chaos fighter is impossibly mobile. Able to pull off manoeuvres that shouldn't be possible for any human pilot. The original design already had an eye to increase mobility, but demonic blessing, the pilot being permanently fused with the fighter and its systems and sometimes said pilot being a traitor marine have all contributed towards making this advantage even more exaggerated. The Swift Death is also more than capable of killing a Fury despite its superior protection, and due to their smaller frames, lack of need for large crew quarters or ammunition of any kind means they outnumber Imperial squadrons on Chaos carriers by at least 2 fighters to 1 interceptor.

The large numbers of Swift Death Fighters proved so deadly it caused a massive shift in the Imperial Navy towards carriers, experienced pilots in the navy only able to survive or escape by remaining at a distance and hoping the Chaos horde doesn't catch them.

 **Doom Fire Bomber**

 **Length** : 60 metres

 **Wing Span** : 40 metres

 **Crew** : 5 (2 gunners, 1 pilot, 1 Heretek, 1 targeteer)

 **Sub-light engine** : Unknown

 **Power supply** : Unknown

 **Standard Armament** : 1 twin-linked multilaser turret (dorsal mounted), 1 twin-linked multilaser turret (chin mounted), bomb-bay capacity for up to 20 plasma or cluster missiles, 8 plasma bombs or 1 plasma, Warp-field or melta torpedo.

 **Machine spirit** : hosts a Daemon or spirit of war

 **Warp capable** : no

 **Lore** : The Doom Fire was developed by the Dark Mechanicus to combat the Marauder bomber that was used as the standard bomber of the Imperial Navy before the more wide-spread use of the Star Hawk. The Doom Fire completely eclipsed the smaller Marauder bomber. It had a significantly larger bomb load, a comparable PD suite, better armour protection and superior speed/mobility. This dominance over the Imperial Craft being one of the factors that lead to the Marauder being regulated to only ground-support duty. The Star Hawk now having replaced the Marauder completely as a void-bomber.

Vs the monstrous Star Hawk the Doom Fire is essentially a light bomber. While it can't compare for bomb capacity, PD suite or armour protection; they are faster, more mobile and come in greater numbers. The Doom Fire still being more than capable of cracking open most vessels with its payload, greater number of craft to shoot down per squadron and the superior speed and mobility of the bomber making them a lethal threat to all shipping that becomes the target of a Chaos Carrier.

 **Dread Claw Assault Pod**

 **Length** : 20 metres

 **Wing Span** : N/A

 **Crew** : N/A

 **Sub-light engine** : Unknown

 **Standard Armament** : N/A

 **Machine spirit** : hosts a spirit of war.

 **Troop capacity** : 8 Chaos Space Marines or around 16 cultist troops.

 **Warp capable** : no

 **Lore** : These serve as both the means for Chaos space marines to assault a planet and to board enemy vessels. Unlike the Shark assault boat, they have no permanent crew at all (also rendering them steerless, reducing effective range) these are exceptionally common and used often by Chaos war fleets. They are also very small, largest variants not exceeding a combined length of 20 metres.

They operate quite simply by ramming into the hull of an enemy at extreme speeds (they must be fast, since they can't steer to adjust for evasive action like a Shark can) in great numbers and dislodge a small team of chaos space marines directly into the hull once the hull is breached by Melta charges. The large claws preventing the pod from being sucked out into space after making a breach.

Unlike the IN, every chaos carrier is equipped with assault pods. Offensive assault actions being quite common for Chaos.


	2. Escorts

**Chaos Escorts**

 **Infidel Class Frigate**

 **Size** : 1.5 KM long, 0.3 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 24,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 5 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 Escort class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 4 sub-macro plasma weapon batteries (2 per broadside), 4 light torpedo launchers

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : The Infidel is the original design for, and 'sister class' to, the Falchion Class frigates in service with the Imperium. The Infidel was effectively designed as a replacement for the Cobra Class destroyers, having the same number of torpedo tubes and similarly high speed, but with greater ship-to-ship firepower and armour protection. Combining the duties of torpedo boat with a fearsome battery of plasma weapons and frigate durability. When compared to the Falchion she has comparable armour, has similar speed and more torpedo launchers; but has weaker weapon batteries. The Conflict of Abumbria demonstrating the superiority of the Imperial weapon batteries, the Falchions able to evade the mass torpedo attacks and destroy the Infidels with their greater number of mass-driver weapon batteries.

The deadly combination of the armour and firepower of a frigate with the torpedo armament and speed of destroyer did make the Infidel a deadly threat to the Imperium in large fleet engagements and in raids however. Squadrons could launch many torpedoes to break up formations and cripple large targets, then close in and destroy enemy escorts and even damage larger targets when focusing fire with their weapon batteries. They could shrug off damage from similar sized weapon batteries and make a swift get away with their high speed. Most notable action of the Infidel being when Talon squadron, made up of 5 Infidels, critically damaged the Ship of Rogue Trader Jeremiah Blitz in the Calixis sector. The enraged outlaw swearing to reduce every Infidel he saw henceforth into drifting wrecks.

 **Idolator Class Frigate**

 **Size** : 1.6 KM long, 0.4 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 26,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 4.8 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 Escort class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 1 lance battery (4 lance barrels, prow mounted), 4 laser-based sub-macro cannons (2 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : The Idolator is a mysterious and terrifyingly powerful escort that continues to prove an enigma to Imperial fleet intelligence. Little about this ship is known beyond the numerous confrontations involving vessels and what could be salvaged from wrecks. Best guesses put the ship's origin being from Xana II, a forge World corrupted by Chaos near the Eye of Terror, and the ship incorporates technology which is of Tau origin. How and when Chaos got their hands on such technology is unknown, but what this Xenos technology is used for is clear in the ship's armament.

The Idolator has a prow mounted lance battery, a feat that should be impossible for a ship of her size given the power requirements, and a few highly accurate and long range weapon batteries. The stolen technology is being used to enable the Idolator to power a cruiser-grade lance battery, as well as an advanced targeting matrix allowing for the terrifying accuracy at long range. The Idolator is also faster than its Imperial rival, the Firestorm, the only comfort the Imperial navy having in terms of advantages being that the Idolator is not as numerous as the Firestorm nor is it as heavily armoured. The Idolator's firepower and speed make her a true menace to ships of any size. A single Idolator able to match the firepower of a whole squadron of other escorts, a group of the tiny terrors able to systematically take apart larger cruisers and even Battleships in relatively short order with their lances.

 **Iconoclast-class Destroyer**

 **Size** : 1.3 KM long, 0.4 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 16,500

 **Max Acceleration** : 7.2 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 Escort class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 10 sub-Macro Weapon batteries (4 on each broadside, 2 on frontal turrets)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : Iconoclast is perhaps the most numerous vessel in service with Chaos. The ship is also a rare vessel for being a ship in service with Chaos which is of neither Imperial or Chaos origin, the Iconoclast being designed and built by pirates and private dockyards. The ship design's age is unknown, but being produced on mass by both Chaos in the Immaterium and by pirate and traitor dock yards hidden across the Imperium, the ship is the most numerous and frequently sighted Chaos service vessel. Frequently being found raiding convoys and attacking space stations across many sectors within the Imperium seemingly since time began.

The Iconoclast follows a simple, pirate-centric, design philosophy: Stick as many guns as possible onto as fast a ship as possible with as much cargo space possible. This means the Iconoclast stands out among other escorts for its impressive number of short-range weapon batteries and high speed. However, she has thin armour even by escort standards: a Sword Class frigate is able to tear a Iconoclast in half with its Laser-based batteries. The Iconoclast mostly gets around this weakness by being so incredible numerous. Roving swarms of the ships being found in service with Chaos and Pirate forces. With private forces its high speed is used to get in among convoy columns and blast any enemy escorts into oblivion with the large number of plasma weapon batteries, cripple the transport's engines and life support systems, and then get away quick with a substantial amount of loot using the ship's larger-than-average cargo bays. In Chaos service, they are used as a disposable shield for larger vessels and as cannon fodder in large assaults, the ships often being crewed by Pirates and mercenaries joining the Chaos fleets through promises of riches and spoils of war.

 **Apostate Class Heavy Frigate**

 **Size** : 3 KM long, 0.5 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 34,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 4 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 Escort class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 1 Lance turret (dorsal/prow mounted), 4 Laser-Macro Cannons (2 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : It is unknown exactly when or for what purpose the Apostate was designed to fill, but the Imperial Navy's encounters with the ship have confirmed it is highly effective as Both a combat vessel and a commerce raider.

The ship is uncharacteristically large and slow for a Chaos vessel, much like its Loyalist cousin the Turbulent in that regard, but it also carries a monstrous armament. Each Apostate is equipped like a miniature cruiser: with a front-dorsal lance turret and a (albeit small) battery of macro weapons. This makes the Heavy frigate a brutal opponent for any who face her in a gunnery duel, able to stand toe-to-toe with any light cruiser; her only real weaknesses being her slow speed and relatively weak armour protection. A Dauntless cruiser, or even a Turbulent Heavy Frigate, being quite capable of catching her and ripping through her thin protection: provided they can survive the savage reply to such an attack first.


	3. Light Cruisers

**Chaos Light Cruisers**

 **Harbinger/Hellbringer Class Light Cruiser**

 **Size** : 4.6 KM long, 0.45 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 60,000-72,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 4.8 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 light cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 2 dorsal 'Hector' Heavy Plasma-macro turrets, (Harbinger) 2 Lance batteries (1 per broadside), (Hellbringer) 2 Hangar decks (1 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : (both ships) 4 Arvus lighters, (Hellbringer only) 85 Swift Death fighters, 108 Hell Talons, 60 Doom Fire bombers, 78 Dread Class assault pods.

 **Lore** : This class of warship is perhaps the deadliest warship of her weight class. She is a native design of Chaos, heavily inspired by old Imperial designs, and the intention of the design appears to have been to stick as many dangerous weapons as possible onto a Light Cruiser. The class is frequently used in raids and in lesser-planetary invasions for her incredible mix of firepower, speed and the hellbringer's strike craft/landing craft/assault boats.

The twin classes are infamous among Imperial fleets: the appearance of one of either of these vessels sending shivers down the spine of the captain of any cruiser and spelling doom for any escort, space station or light cruiser. This is due to the Light Cruisers armament of Heavy plasma-macros being of the same kind found on larger cruisers of Chaos, as well as the Hellbringer having capacity to launch a respectable number of strike craft of varying types, and not sacrificing any of the speed. The sister of the Hellbringer, the Harbinger, replacing their hangar bays with lances of the same kind found on larger Chaos cruisers, to only further increasing its ship-to-ship lethality vs its peers among other factions. Often the only clues a Hellbringer or Harbinger will give that it was ever there, if not spotted immediately, being the gutted wrecks of its victims. The Light Cruiser is however a glass cannon. Having pathetically thin armour that can easily be overmatched by her rival, the Dauntless, being especially vulnerable to Imperial broadsides and torpedoes even by Chaos standards.

The Light Cruiser appeared in great numbers in the Gothic War. The Chaos Predators tearing a bloody path through the Battle Fleets reserve of Light Cruisers and Escorts: but it was the carrier capacity of the Hellbringer that made them especially deadly. Already able to produce a fair few squadrons alone, when deployed on masse like in the Gothic War, they could swamp and overwhelm even the largest fleet formations; which pushed Battlefleet Gothic to scramble for carrier capable vessels.

 **Pestilaan Class Light Cruiser**

 **Size** : 5 KM long, 0.9 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 50,000 + unknown number of daemons of nurgle

 **Max Acceleration** : 2 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 light cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 20 Plasma-Macro Cannons (10 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : The exact origins of this ship are unknown, given the ship is so horribly bloated and warped that no identification can be given to it from any records uncovered by the Navy. The ship is an ungainly and clumsy looking thing and, for a Light Cruiser, its speed and manoeuvrability are appallingly bad as well as having a less than impressive armament of two short range weapon batteries. However, the ship is a surprisingly hard nut to crack, able to take a savage beating. The true power of the ship however is hinted at in the fleshy sores that are open on the ship's hull and the rusted, bloated appearance: this ship found only among Nurgle fleets.

Getting close to this ship is suicide. Many an Imperial Captain have looked upon the vessel as easy prey, only to get too close and claimed by Nurgle's taint. The ship spreads diseases through its weapons batteries, demonic-assisted boarding and some other unholy means that is yet to be determined but is, fortunately, short in range. These diseases effectively render any ship dead-in-space: being extremely fast spreading and lethal, only known 'cure' being to pledge one's allegiance to Nurgle, thus expanding the numbers of the plague fleet and repeating the cycle of corruption.

These warships are perhaps the most feared warships among experienced Imperial Captains and Admirals, captains for its ability terrible illness and inflictions upon their ship and Admirals for its ability to expand the numbers of Chaos fleet while thinning the Imperial ranks. Although small, and relatively rare, vessels in the Gothic War: Captains where under strict orders to 'Kill on Sight; and quickly!', failure to do so meaning execution for anyone who survived the encounter.


	4. Line Cruisers

**Chaos Line Cruisers**

 **Murder Class Cruiser**

 **Size** : 5.1 KM long, 0.8 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 75,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.8 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 40 'Hector' Heavy Plasma-macro cannons, (20 per broadside), 2 Heavy Lances (prow mounted)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : In service with the Imperial Battlefleet Obscurus to act as the primary fleet cruiser from M33-M37, a majority of these vessels were sold off to Rogue Traders after being replaced by the largely superior Lunar Class: which had more powerful broadsides, more lance batteries, had more armour, could fit a Nova Cannon and was cheaper to mass produce. Some of these vessels would eventually find themselves in Chaos hands, being first seen in numbers in service with Slaaneshi fleets in M39, and seen in wider service in M41.

The Murder Class, despite being inferior to the Lunar when dropped from service, has had various upgrades during its service with Chaos. The Batteries and Lances (which were already longer range than on the Lunar) are now capable of hitting targets far beyond what should be possible for such weapons, her speed has also seen an increase despite already being faster than average for her weight class: now capable of manoeuvring more like a Light Cruiser than a Cruiser. In Chaos service her armament configuration remains unchanged, but more deadly than ever: a pair of prow-mounted Heavy Lances with enough power to punch through the armour of a Battleship with ease, and a two batteries of plasma weapon batteries with a withering rate of fire and impressive range.

The Murder Class has a lethal track record.

Its batteries are a huge threat to any escort or Light Cruiser it faces, as well as being excellent weapons for tearing down the shields on larger warships to open them up for a devastating double heavy-lance strike which is capable of crippling even battleships in a single hit (Some Variants of the Murder having their weapons batteries removed entirely and replaced with lances to make it a pure lance boat, like on the Plagueclaw and Despicable Ecstasy).

This became apparent during the Gothic war: where the Retribution Class Battleship, the Relentless Persecution, and her escorts were ambushed by the Murder Class Vessels Monstrous and Steel Fang. Both Cruisers flanked the formation and fired a massed crossfire of plasma rounds from the cover of debris from a previous battle: The Escorts and Light Cruisers with the lone Battleship quickly disintegrated and the void shield generators on the Battleship burnt out under the concentrated fire, but the batteries were only capable of doing superficial damage to the Battleship's thick hide of adamantine composite armour. Before the Battleship could fire its reply from its far deadlier Heavy Macro Cannon broadsides, both cruisers had maneuverer to fire their Heavy Lances into both sides of the mighty vessel: four Heavy Lance bolts and series of rippling explosions later, the Battleships magazine and generator were destroyed, causing the imposing shape to disappear in a massive fireball of death and destruction.

The Murder Class would perform similarly well in various battles across the Gothic Sector during the War, being a continuous dagger in Battlefleet Gothic's side: being equally as deadly in any role the Chaos Admirals chose to employ the Murder in.

 **Carnage Class Cruiser**

 **Size** : 5 KM long, 0.8 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 73,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.8 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 40 Phased Plasma-Macro Cannons (20 per broadside), 2 Heavy 'Hector' Plasma-macro turrets (dorsal)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : This ship was originally intended as a test bed for an experimental Phased Plasma battery, the ship designed to use these weapons to Support the Imperial fleet by pouring a large volume of fire into approaching enemies attempting to break the Main Battle Line. the phased Plasma batteries having a massively improved rate of fire and range when compared to the standard Macro cannons, and not suffering from the same 'fading' issues of other plasma-based weaponry. The Carnage class herself designed to be fast: so that she could always keep at a range where her poor armour and exposed power supply couldn't be exploited by an enemy, and could take advantage of the ships mid-long range advantages over other weapons batteries. This ship however had numerous issues, mainly in the form of poor crew comfort (even by Imperial navy standards) and massive technical issues with the power supply for the ship's armament and engine. This lead to the ship being maddening to operate, driving crews and captains into a continuous state of rage and discomfort which proved the perfect foundation for Heretical thought to take root. The very first Carnage Class, the Relentless (renamed the Initiate of Skalathrax after joining the Chaos fleet), turning on the convoy it was escorting, destroying it utterly, after a particularly maddening series of breakdowns.

The Carnage is now only found in Chaos service. The Long-Range rapid-Fire batteries able to annihilate whole squadrons of escorts and light cruisers in very short order, although the lack of fire saturation and accuracy at extreme range make it so the Carnage presents little threat to larger warships while alone, although is exponentially more deadly the closer they get for other cruisers. The Carnage Class is a true terror when combined with a ship armed with Lances. Long-range rapid-fire batteries rapidly overwhelming the shielding on any vessel, allowing for a devastating lance strike into the un-shielded hull of the now exposed capital ship. The Carnage is also a nightmare once it gets among convoys and groups of damaged capital ships, able to fire a huge volume of shots out in all directions, anything attempting to flee unable to get outside of its range before being torn to pieces under the heavy concentration of plasma projectiles.

The Carnage Class is also the Worst nightmare of any Eldar fleet. Able to overwhelm the Holo-Fields on the vessels with a massive volley of projectiles, from far beyond their effective range, and tear apart their flimsy hulls under a rapid succession of savage plasma impacts.

 **Slaughter Class Cruiser**

 **Size** : 4.8 KM long, 0.8 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 70,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 3.1 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 24 Heavy 'Destructor' Laser-Macro Cannons (12 per broadside), 4 lance batteries (2 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : This vessel was designed for hit-and-run attacks and anti-piracy patrols by the Imperium. The ship had an experimental Fusion-based power plant which allowed for a number of high energy weapons to be equipped to the vessels: being equipped with an, extremely rare mixed battery, of High-yield lances and Hard hitting mid-range weapons batteries which would later be named 'Destructor Cannons' by Chaos forces. The ship also had extraordinary speed. Able to catch and even outrun the fastest of escorts, one of the fastest (if not the fastest) cruiser ever being built by the Imperium These vessels faced many complications in construction: complexity of its power plant and mixed weapons batteries meant that construction of these vessels was excruciatingly slow, as was any form of repair or maintenance. This is largely believed to be the cause of the Madness that often consumed the crews assigned to these vessels, leading to almost the entire ship class to revolt to Chaos by M34, the ability to build more being lost after one Slaughter Class Cruiser (the Soulless) raided and destroyed the data banks containing the schematics for the construction and repair of the ship's power plant.

The Slaughter has a fearsome reputation on the Battlefield: Destructor cannons overwhelming shielding and escort squadrons in rapid succession, to be followed up by a strike from high yield mid-range lances able to tear through even the thickest of capital-ship armour with ease, making the ship one of the more feared among Imperial crews. The speed making it impossible to run from the vessels savage firepower.

One Slaughter Class would earn a legendary reputation in the Gothic War. Being named Kill Frenzy for the crazy broadcast being repeated across all Frequencies which consisted purely of the words 'KILL FRENZY KILL FRENZY KILL FRENZY KILL FRENZY' voice increasingly deranged and wild as the battle progressed: the captain showing a total disinterest in anything other than destroying Imperial ships. Going as far as to ram straight through an Imperial light cruiser and attempt a second ram after having batteries knocked out and burning while under heavy fire from Macro Cannons, any Imperial vessel attempting to flee in terror only being relentless pursued by the crazed captain.

 **Devastation Class Cruiser**

 **Size** : 5 KM long, 0.8 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 80,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.7 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 12 Heavy 'Destructor' Laser-Macro Cannons (6 per broadside), 2 lance batteries (1 per broadside), 2 hangar decks (1 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters, 88 Swift Death fighters, 102 Hell Talons/ Hell Blades, 68 Doom Fire bombers, 88 Dread Claw Assult pods

 **Lore:** This cruiser is a rarity among Chaos War Fleets. Having never served among Imperial fleets for one, it's a native modification to an existing vessel in service with the Chaos fleets (many believe this original ship to be the Slaughter Class), as well as being a break from the highly aggressive all-or-nothing profile of the Chaos fleets: being that the ship was built to protect and escort other Chaos vessels.

The Ships armament reflects the defensive orientation of the vessel: she has one battery of, fairly typical, mixed Lance and laser-based weapons; but she also has a launch bay. This Launch bay has an impressive capacity for a cruiser-type vessel, able to double the number of squadrons of its Imperial rival (The Dictator Class), she is also extremely fast by cruiser standards (like all Chaos Cruisers, speed being a major weapon for traitor fleets). The exact intention of this ship was to counter the massed torpedo attacks of Imperial and Ork fleets which often crippled Chaos fleets, limiting their ability to manoeuvre while dodging torpedoes which proved deadly to the thinly armoured ships when hit, allowing the enemy to close relatively unharmed. Devastations would use fighter screens to destroy the majority of the lethal projectiles, as well as preventing enemy strike craft from getting close to the cruisers as they poured fire into the opposing fleet from afar. The Devastation could also very quickly adapt to when the Chaos fleet made the inevitable aggressive push on the disorganised and crippled enemy: remaining useful by lancing and bombing unshielded targets as well as launching swarms of Dread claw drop pods filled with Chaos Space Marines to overwhelm ships from within.

The Devastation is greatly valued by both Chaos Warlords and Pirate Warbands. Filling a capability gap in the Chaos fleet as well as having very high speed, firepower and cargo space making it an excellent raiding vessel for Pirates. The Devastation served in the Gothic War also, and is one of the ships that caused Battlefleet Gothic to make the dramatic shift from All-Big-Gun warships to Carrier Heavy formations.

 **Emasculator Class Cruiser**

 **Size** : 5.0 KM long, 0.8 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 72,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.8 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 20 'Hector' Heavy Plasma-macro cannons, (10 per broadside), 2 Lances batteries (1 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : The Emasculator was the first, failed, attempt to design a multi-role cruiser armed with Lances and Batteries: The Lunar Class quickly replacing her after only 6 or 7 centuries of service. Like the Murder: a lot of Emasculators found their way into Chaos service through a large quantity of them being sold to rogue traders. Despite being inferior to the Lunar Class, she had longer range lances and batteries as well as having better speed: this only being made more so after chaos was done tainting the vessel. Like the Lunar Class that succeeded her and her original design intention she is a particularly versatile ship. Her high speed and long ranged batteries together with lances mean she is nightmare for escorts and light cruisers, while able to apply similar tactics as the murder Class when dealing with larger targets: able to take down shields with the batteries to follow up with a powerful lance strike (although not to the same effect as the Murder).

Just like the Murder, this vessel was first seen in wide use by Slaaneshi war fleets (for reasons still not determined) before seeing the first major distribution of the Cruiser during the Gothic war in M41 (again, just like the Murder Class). She proved especially deadly as an escort raider, able to quickly sweep aside most escorts and tear into the vulnerable transports, to then use her superior speed to out-run any Imperial response.

 **Inferno Class Cruiser**

 **Size** : 5.0 KM long, 0.8 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 72,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.8 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 20 Phased Plasma-Macro cannons (10 per broadside), 2 lance batteries (1 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : The Inferno is believed to be an early design and a later counterpart of the Carnage. However, it was marred by technical difficulties and not entirely successful in overcoming many of the shortcomings experienced by the Carnage in maintaining and powering its long-range batteries. The Inferno was quickly supplanted in front line units by more modern types. Even the Bastion fleets have not had an example of this class for many centuries, though several were known to be maintained by the Adeptus Mechanicus as experimental platforms and other such uses. A small number were known to turn renegade before the class was entirely removed from service by M35. None were known for certain to have been present during the Gothic War, though the Havoc and Cerberus are both known to have operated throughout Segmentum Obscuras and the Northern Rim. The Pillager and Rampage on the other hand have spent little time in Segmentum Obscurus since going renegade, and for many centuries their whereabouts were unknown until scattered reports concerning these two vessels surfaced in the vicinity of the Maelstrom in M37.

Several vessels of this class were reported in various engagements at Cadia, Kantrael and Agripinaa. While only the Pillager was identified with any certainty, at least two or three of these ships must have participated in the war for the vast distances between systems they were sighted in. The ship is effectively a Carnage class with an added lance deck to increase its firepower vs larger targets and give it a greater self-sufficiency in patrol and anti-piracy operations, turned heretic for many of the same reasons and has a similar role to the Carnage.


	5. Heavy Cruisers

**Chaos Heavy Cruisers**

 **Hades Class Heavy Cruiser**

 **Size** : 6KM long, 0.9 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 102,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.6 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 2 cruiser class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 40 Phased Plasma-Macro cannons (20 per broadside), 2 lance turrets (dorsally mounted), 2 Heavy Lances (prow mounted)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : The Hades Class was once a prized vessel in the Imperial navy, considered the backbone of many Battle Fleets from M33-M35. The ship is effectively an up-armoured Carnage Class with Dorsal Lance turrets, prow Heavy lances and improved power plant along with an extended hull to facilitate the new weapons and crew. The purpose of these upgrades being to provide the Carnage with a more effective means to fire at targets directly forward of the ship and improve its effectiveness at long and mid ranges. The Armour being put in place to make the, already dangerous, brawling abilities of the Carnage more sustainable. Taking elements of the Murder Class Cruiser and combining them with the longer ranged batteries of the Carnage.

Although these upgrades were quite simple the effect was impressive. The Hades now had a full 360-degree arch of fire, could present a serious threat to any target at any range, a vast improvement over the limited usefulness of the Carnage which was only effective from mid-range vs soft targets for the most part. Staying in service longer than the Murder Class due to the greater concentration of more versatile lance armaments, superior protection and longer ranged batteries.

The fall of Hades to Chaos occurred due to the Overlord Class Battlecruiser. After the development of the Overload from the Acheron tests, it became clear the Battlecruiser had various advantages over the Hades: she retained the dorsal lances, have Heavy Macro Cannons with much greater killing power at mid and short range, as well as heavier armour on a chassis which was smaller and could move just as quickly, if not quicker. The final nail in the coffin being its surplus energy reserves also capable of extending the battlecruisers range and rate of fire. The Hades was dropped from service quickly following the mass adoption of the Overlord Class, disappearing completely from Imperial formations very quickly.

The Hades would once again serve as the backbone of a fleet: The Chaos fleet in M41 during the Gothic War. The Hades Class saw extensive service as the mainstay of the Chaos fleet, serving in all operational theatres from supporting planetary invasions to being the flagship for raiding parties. These ships were, unusually for Chaos vessels, able to match most of their Imperial counterpart in a battle at any range making them exceptionally deadly enemies to face during any engagement. These Hades Class had also all once served with Battlefleet Gothic, Abbadon hand-picking the most well decorated and celebrated of them during Imperial service and sending them against their ex-Battlefleet. Many of these prestigious vessels and their veteran-hero captains went from revered legends to hated enemies. As they committed hideous crimes across the Gothic sector, Battlefleet Gothic forces to either kill their one-time idols or watch them butcher civilian populations from orbit.

 **Styx Class Heavy Carrier**

 **Size** : 6.3 KM long, 1 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 132,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.6 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 2 cruiser class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 2 lance turrets (dorsally mounted), 1 'Hector' Heavy Plasma-Macro Cannon turret (dorsal/prow mounted), 4 Hangar decks (2 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters, 200 Swift Death fighters, 288 Hell Talons/Hell Blades, 108 Doom Fire bombers, 120 Dread Class Assault pods

 **Lore** : Prior to the Mars Class, from M32-M33, the Styx Class was the mainstay fleet carrier for the Imperial navy. It was much cheaper and more numerous than the Emperor, and faster, and had the same carrier capacity together with a self-defence dorsal lance for dealing with escorts. Unfortunately for the Styx, this less-than-impressive armament, together with poor armour protection would be her downfall with most Battle Fleets. Carriers where already niche and unpopular vessels with many battle fleets, being employed by necessity as opposed to any actual preference: The Mars Class changed this. Despite having half the Carrier capacity, the Mars was much better armed for engagements of any range. Despite accusations of being under gunned, the Mars Class was vastly superior to the Styx, the Styx rapidly dropping from active service to be sold off or mothballed.

It's unknown exactly how or when Chaos forces got their hands on the Styx, but it was most likely through the rogue traders Styx Class vessels were sold to: there where exactly 7 recording sightings prior to the Gothic War, all being far apart in terms of time, but all occurring in the Obscurus Sector. The most notable of these early encounters being when 5 ships of the class where caught in a raid on an Imperial Orbital Outpost in M35. The Heavy Cruisers had only a small escort of 3 Harbinger Light Cruisers and a small assortment of escorts, but the vast swarms of strike craft the 5 where capable of throwing up meant the Station was being overwhelmed by the sheer mass of ordnance it had to target. The Retaliation fleet, led by an Apocalypse Battleship arrived just too late save the station, the station's primary generator being crippled and its orbit destabilized just as the prow of the first Imperial escort emerged from the warp. The battle lasted only a couple of hours, most of the Chaos fleet being annihilated, but the oldest identified vessels, Heartless Destroyer, could escape with relatively minor damage. This same Styx Class would go on to serve in the Gothic War and be one of the small few Chaos vessels to survive the War.

The Gothic war was when the Styx appeared in large-scale use with Chaos fleets. They were used throughout the war as flagships for strike groups sent to invade planets across the Gothic Sector, their vast carrier capacity allowing them to carry a sizable invasion force and air support all on their own, the rest of the strike force defending them from Imperial retaliation and bombarding key positions and cities across the planet from orbit. They were also used as dedicated Fleet Carriers in large fleet engagements, just one of them being able to match the carrier capacity of an Emperor Class Battleship and pin down Imperial fleets under a constant Strike craft harassment. They were also scarily efficient at shutting down convoy operations in large areas of space. The Styx Class proved so potent that she directly influenced the mass adoption of the Dictator Class, alongside the extremely dangerous Harbinger Light Cruisers and Devastation Cruisers. One Styx, the Lord Seth, flagging the assault fleet attacking Helia IV, took part in the first major conflict where Dictator Class vessels fought with the Styx. Several Dictators lead by Flag Captain Semper in his Dictator cruiser, the Lord Solar Macharius, lead a fair-sized fleet to victory against the Chaos invaders, massed torpedoes and strike craft attacks from range crippling the Styx before they could retaliate and mopping up the other vessels with a mix of bombers and macro cannon fire. The Styx remained a potent enemy to the very end of the Gothic war however, and she remains the go-to carrier for the Chaos fleet despite there now being plenty of carrier competition among the ranks of the Imperial Battle Fleets these days.

 **Cardinal class Heavy Cruiser**

 **Size** : 6 KM long, 0.9 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 105,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.6 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 2 cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 2 Lance turrets (dorsal mounted), 1 'Hector' Heavy Plasma-Macro Cannon turret (dorsal/prow mounted), 4 Plasma Lance batteries (2 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters, (in Imperial service) 1 Aquila lander

 **Lore** : This Heavy Cruiser was originally designed in M33 to fill a similar role to the Apocalypse Class Battleship, being armed with many long-range lances capable of overwhelming enemy cruisers, as well as deal with swarms of enemy escorts and light cruisers. The concept being that the Cardinal could deploy these larger number of Lances to critical areas far faster than any Battleship could, as well as being a cheaper and easier to produce vessel. Unlike the later Gothic Class Cruiser, the Cardinal was largely successful in Imperial service in this role. While still not matching the Battleships awesome power, they were still able to present a serious threat to formations of cruisers and smaller vessels, while having an impressive speed for her Weight Class.  
She also had enough armour to shrug off the armament found on most cruiser-type warships, and a greater number of Cardinals could be put in service with fleets due to their easier construction and cheaper maintenance cost when compared to the Apocalypse.  
The Heavy Cruiser is also a unique vessel for being a ship that actively serves with both Imperial and Chaos fleets to this day (although in very small numbers with the Imperial Navy) and the only Heavy Cruiser class still in regular use with the Imperial navy.

The Cardinals large scale fall to Chaos came with the appearance of the Mars Class Battlecruiser.  
The Cardinal had similar firepower to a battleship, but couldn't match it: while the Mars Class (with her Heavy Macro Battery and Nova Cannon, while retaining dorsal lances) could match the firepower of a battleship as well as having carrier capacity. The Cardinal, while still powerful and useful to the navy, was simply outclassed by the Mars: despite many hardliners claiming her to be 'under gunned' (which only worsened the position and reputation of the Cardinal).  
This fall from grace meant that many Cardinals were found to be neglected in maintenance and, gradually, the means/knowledge required to replace and repair the ships disappeared into obscurity. Outraged, many captains of Cardinals took their ageing vessels and denounced the Imperium in favour of serving with chaos War Fleets.

The Cardinal has seen service on both sides of various conflicts across the Imperium, first being seen in large-scale Chaos use in the Gothic war as a Heavy raider and dedicated Lance boat, her high speed and moderate armour allowing her to survive most Imperial retaliations. She frequently proved to be a deadly pair for the Carnage Class cruiser, and as the Heavy Firepower of chaos fleets, providing knock-out blows for Chaos cruiser formations.  
She is also still in service with Battlefleet Bakka and Battlefleet Tempestus in the Imperial Navy, mainly because of her brutal effectiveness against pirates and Tyranids but also because Bakka was one of the few Battle Fleets reluctant to take the Mars Class over the Cardinal, much of the criticism of the Mars Class coming from the Admirals of said Battlefleet.  
A pair of Cardinals of Battlefleet Bakka served against Hive Fleet Behemoth in defence of Macragge. One, the Silent Flame, was lost to friendly fire in transit to her defensive position, being believed to be a heretic raider. The other, Sebastian Thor, served with distinction against the Hive fleet. She defended her small area of space, with an escort of Firestorm frigates, Dauntless and Endurance Light Cruisers and a singular Gothic Class; against swarms of thousands of Tyranid vessels. The concentrated, long range, lance firepower of the Cardinals small formation of Warships being enough to cut a fiery swath through any bio-ship foolish enough to try assault the lethal mini-fleet. The Sebastian Thor, despite losing much of her escort, would survive her intense week-long firefight and continues to serve with Battlefleet Bakka to this day.

Cardinals also notably severed in the vicious Badab war in M38 for both sides of the conflict. Many ships changing hands several times throughout the course of the war, admirals on both sides never sure to whom the next Cardinal would belong to; an unconfirmed, but presumably high, tally of friendly-fire occurring on both sides.

 **Acheron Class Heavy Cruiser**

 **Size** : 6 KM long, 0.9 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 105,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.8 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 2 Cruiser class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 2 Lance turrets (dorsal mounted), 1 'Hector' Heavy Plasma-Macro Cannon turret (dorsal/prow mounted), 4 Lance batteries (2 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : Acheron Class was a test bed for an ancient experimental weapons system and power plant found in Sector 51 by a patrol from Battlefleet Gothic, the origin and age of said weapons and power plant are unknown, being found within a space hulk which is believed to have been xenos in origin (although whether this is true, or simply captain folklore and rumour, is unknown). The Acheron Class is effectively a Cardinal Class with standard Lances and power plant replaced with the older re-discovered lances and generator. These old lances had a more efficient power distribution in its shots, generating less heat and distributing the extra power retention equally over the entire area of the lance impact as opposed to only the centre of the area of impact, which greatly improved the performance of the lance's penetrative power/damage to be more in line with what a Heavy lance would achieve (but with a lower power requirement, due to the smaller weight class weapon). The experimental power plant also enabled these lances to fire beyond the range of most Cruisers and match the range of even the most long-range batteries on battleships, the frightening power of the generator also accelerating the (already fast) Cardinal chassis to speeds more typical of a light cruiser.

Despite the clear advantages these weapons and power plant offered, the Mechanicus refused to work with them and wouldn't produce any more Acheron Class vessels because of the shady origins of the Tech possibly being of Xenos design. This means that only one un-named (designated BF/67-A) and incomplete Acheron Class was built by the Imperium, although experiences from the trials of the Acheron inspired the Overlord Class Battle Cruiser which had a largely copied (but less efficient) power plant. The singular Acheron Class test subject was left immobile in orbit above a backwater outpost world in the gothic sector and was largely forgotten. The Acheron would become a centre of attention again during the Gothic War however.

During the Chaos offensive, one of the Chaos strike groups stumbled across the Acheron in orbit above the seemingly insignificant world. Before blowing it apart, the Chaos admiral recognised its similarity to the Cardinal Class Heavy Cruiser, and life-sign scans showed it was un-crewed. Confused, Curious and Cautious: The Chaos fleet closed in to inspect the new warship, and quickly discovered the power of the power plant and lances equipped on the vessel, immediately setting to work getting the thing repaired, rearmed and crewed. Two Weeks later, when work on the on the Acheron had nearly finished, an imperial fleet flagged by a Retribution Class Battleship arrived under strict orders to destroy the Acheron at any cost. After a pitched 8-hour battle between the Chaos and Imperial fleets the now-named Chaos Eternus Acheron Class escaped into the warp under heavy fire from Macro Cannons, leaving behind a graveyard of Chaos and Imperial vessels in her old resting place.

 **Hecate Class Heavy Cruiser**

 **Size** : 6.3 KM long, 1 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 122,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.6 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 2 cruiser class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 2 lance turrets (dorsally mounted), 1 'Hector' Heavy Plasma-Macro Cannon turret (dorsal/prow mounted), 2 Hangar decks (1 per broadside), 2 Lance batteries (1 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters, 100 Swift Death fighters, 188 Hell Talons/Hell Blades, 66 Doom Fire bombers, 60 Dread Class Assault pods

 **Lore** : he Hecate Class is a far more recent Chaos-native design based off the Styx Class Heavy Cruiser, her first recorded sightings of the vessel being in M39, and first recorded deployments being during the Gothic War.  
Despite the potency of Heavy-weight Carrier Styx Class, Chaos Warmasters realised the need for a carrier capable of defending itself against a modest sized fleet without a considerable escort. For a while the answer had simply been to mass Harbingers with a Styx and overwhelm them with sheer volume of strike craft, with lance and weapons batteries from the Styx and Harbingers for fending off survivors.  
This proved inconvenient and unreliable however. For one, it was hard to sneak more than one vessel through Imperial defences without being detected, meaning ships had to be sent to rally locations one-by-one or risk detection; and the formation was extremely fragile as it relied on light cruisers that could be easily destroyed by any Imperial vessel given even a shadow of a chance to fire back.

The Hecate design was built to address these issues.  
She had slightly heavier armour, allowing her to withstand cruiser-grade weaponry at mid-range for a limited duration, and featured an extended Dorsal lance battery and a battery of Lance weapons to replace one of the Launch bays. While this meant a lower number of strike craft on the ship when compared to the Styx: when deployed in the same Harbinger formation the difference in strike potential at long range was negligible. But the formation suddenly experienced more success when Imperial forces began to close, the large number of lances able to tear through large groups of enemy escorts, light cruisers and cruisers.  
The Hecate could also be self-sufficient, not having to depend on a formation of escorts, being quite capable of fending off a variety of different enemies entirely by herself.

 **Hellfire Class Heavy Cruiser**

 **Size** : 6 KM long, 0.9 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 108,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 3 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating

 **Standard Main Armament** : 40 Heavy Laser weapon batteries (20 per broadside), 2 lance turrets (dorsally mounted)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : The Hellfire Class is a strange vessel design by Imperial standards.  
This ship was designed and built in M33, the concept of the design was to produce a ship capable of bring massive firepower upon an enemy fleet quickly and from a longer range than most could engage, effectively a long-range lance boat. Although the ship did have dorsal lances, most of its firepower came from many experimental laser-based weapons batteries. These weapons batteries behaved a lot like light lances found on escorts and light cruisers both in terms of power consumption and damage output, but they had a far longer range, easily able to match the engagement ranges of most standard lances as well as being packed in great concentration on the Heavy Cruiser's broadsides.  
These strange weapons, together with the dorsal lances and requirement for high speed meant that the Hellfire is unique among Imperial production vessels for having no void shields: the power requirements of the weapons and engine simply making it impossible for any cruiser-sized ship to support the shields. To back this up, the Hellfire had no armour worth mentioning, anything larger than an escort could shred this ship apart.

The Hellfire had mixed reception with Imperial Admirals and crews. Admirals loved the range it could engage at, its burst firepower and speed; but hated the fragility and constant need for an escort. Crews loved its firepower and speed also, allowing captains to dictate engagements and rendering the ship virtually immune to pirate raids; but cramped conditions and poor vessel survivability meant morale often plummeted during extended fleet engagements and while not on duty.  
Although never officially discharged by the Imperium: most Hellfire captains despised the conditions them and their crew where being put under, most turning heretic by M35, and Imperial Admirals weren't fond of how easily they could be destroyed during fleet engagements; most battle fleets not deploying those left in active service, by M36 the Hellfire being a virtually unheard of vessel in the Imperial Navy.  
The Hellfire has since been seen in Chaos use for blocking convoy operations, commerce raiding and blockading Imperial worlds, but is rarely used in large scale offensive operations.


	6. Grand Cruisers

**Chaos Grand Cruisers**

 **Executor Class Grand Cruiser**

 **Size** : 7.6 KM long, 1.8 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 143,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 1.9 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 4 cruiser class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 8 Lance batteries (4 per broadside), 4 Heavy Lance batteries (2 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : This class of Grand Cruiser was designed and built for use by Battlefleet Cadia in the defence of the Cadia gate, its intention being an upgrade over the Vengeance Class and one of the few ships in the Imperial arsenal to match the Apocalypse battleship for lance broadside firepower.

Almost all of these rare vessels where arranged into a single squadron of giant cruisers, _Blood Royale_ leading them. The Executors roamed the border of the Eye of Terror, using their extended range Heavy-Lance weaponry to annihilate anything foolish enough to try and break out of the Gate long before they realised they were in range. Their effectiveness grabbed the attention of Chaos forces and, one day, the Grand Cruisers disappeared without a trace while on one of their long-range patrols.  
For six centuries all the Grand Cruisers where believed lost (the experience promoting the Imperium to split up its Grand Cruisers more sparsely, to prevent the loss of several of the ancient vessels at a time) until they suddenly appeared in the Gothic Sector... as part of a massive chaos warfleet.  
The powers of Chaos had further increased the already upgraded range and speed beyond what should be physically possible: The Executor now a truly deadly threat to anything that dares challenge the Grand cruiser, regardless of protection and range.

 **Retaliator Class Grand Cruiser**

 **Size** : 7.5 KM long, 1.6 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 144,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 1.7 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 4 cruiser class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 8 Heavy Macro Cannons (4 per broadside), 2 Lance batteries (1 per broadside) and 4 hanger decks (2 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters, 200 Swift Death fighters, 288 Hell Talons/Hell Blades, 108 Doom Fire bombers, 120 Dread Class Assault pods

 **Lore** : Retaliator Class: Retaliator Class vessels served the Imperium as dedicated blockade vessels, anti-piracy ships and as PDF vessels from M32-M35 primarily in the Eye of Terror region but also seeing service with Imperial forces in the Galactic East. In M35, the Industrial World of Galan V and the entire garrison fleet surrounding the planet (that included a majority of the Retaliator Class vessels) rebelled against the Imperium and turned to Chaos. A two-day long intense naval battle took place around Galan V's moon between Imperial Cruiser squadrons and the rebel fleet, the remaining Retaliators and their escorts broke off and retreated for the Eye of Terror. Having received heavy damage at the hands of the Imperial Cruiser, and despite inflicting heavy losses, where faced with overwhelming imperial reinforcements (which included an Apocalypse Class battleship).  
When seen again by Imperial forces: the Retaliators where deadlier, twisted, parodies of the vessels they had been. Battery and lance range impossibly extended by supernatural means, Strike Craft replaced for smaller and more mobile Chaos models: pilots reduced to an unholy union of flesh, bone and machinery.  
Although rarely seen, as Chaos fleets primarily use them to blockade important planets which are under invasion and for defensive operations, one renegade Retaliator is known to still be at large in the Imperium in the Kronus sub-sector: the _Monarch of Whispers_ , which continues to terrorise Imperial convoys and planets across the sub-sector to this day.

 **Repulsive Class Grand Cruiser**

 **Size** : 7.4 KM long, 1.6 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 114,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.2 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 4 cruiser class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 32 Macro Cannons (16 cannons per broadside), 3 plasma lance turrets (dorsally mounted), 6 torpedo launchers

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : The Repulsive was designed to be the ultimate evolution of the Grand Cruiser concept in M34, armed with long range lances, more powerful battleship-type engines, extended-range weapons batteries and forward mounted torpedoes deployed on a more heavily armoured prow-section. The cruiser was quite simply designed to address all of the recurring issues with the Grand Cruisers still in service with the Imperium.  
The Repulsive (original name long lost, being nicknamed such by Imperial crews while in Imperial service and officially classes as the 'Repulsive Class' while in Chaos service) had some disturbing complications from very early in her design stage. A series of strange and perfect coincidences allowing the development to be unusually speedy and successful on the ship, and allowing for several batches of the cruiser to be produced in rapid succession not long after being developed in lightning speed... only for a disturbing number of these ships to be 'lost in the warp' in their first few jumps. Eventually the Imperium picked up the pattern, discontinuing the Grand Cruisers from service and production (and losing the ability to continue producing them not long after), this cruisers ugly reputation of dragging crews into the Warp already earning it the name 'Repulsive': the few remaining being regulated to planetary defence duties, being unable to warp between sectors.

Many of these 'lost' Grand Cruisers where immediately being prepared to be put into active service with Chaos fleets.  
The Repulsive Class saw extensive upgrades to her speed and range by her new Chaos masters, the twisted powers of Chaos empowering the ship's systems beyond the limits of the simple physics of Real-Space.

The Repulsive is a truly deadly adversary to any who try to engage her, her long range batteries (and even longer range Lances) tearing into formations from far beyond the effective engagement range of most Imperial vessels. She is also a rare vessel among Chaos fleets for having forward torpedo armament, only further increasing her fearsome firepower at extreme ranges, she's also unusual for having Heavy armour: able to withstand an Imperial Battle Cruiser broadside long enough to fire at least one terrifyingly powerful broadside in return.  
The Repulsive is also frequently used in raids on Imperial worlds and in planetary invasions.


	7. Battleships

**Chaos Battleships**

 **Despoiler Class Battleship**

 **Size** : 8.3 KM long, 3.1 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 242,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 1.8 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 8 battleship class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 40 'Hector' Heavy Plasma-macro cannons (20 per broadside), 2 Lance turrets (dorsally mounted), 2 Heavy Lance turrets (Dorsal and Dorsal/prow mounted), 3 Hanger decks (1 per broadside, 1 prow mounted)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters, 200 Swift Death fighters, 288 Hell Talons/Hell Blades, 108 Doom Fire bombers, 120 Dread Class Assault pods

 **Lore** : This ship has a long and turbulent history within the Imperium. The Despoiler Class was the ship created by the 'Young School' Admirals (inspired by the ancient Death Guard Battleship Terminus Est's design) of Battlefleet Bakka during the 'Gareox incident', following a millennia long dispute of All-Big-Gun Battleship designs vs Attack Carriers for future Imperial ship-building revolving around battleships. During this Imperial civil war, some 14 Despoilers and their fleets faced off against 15 Emperor Class vessels and their own fleets. The Despoilers Class proved to have much superior speed, and attack range with its batteries and mix of heavy and standard lances, but only just matched the carrier capacity of the Emperor and was far more fragile. Although 2 Emperor Class vessels were destroyed, and a further 3 crippled, the Despoiler proved unable to match the Emperor as a Battleship and was no better as a Carrier: only 3 Despoilers surviving the conflict as the fearsome firepower of Heavy Macro Cannons tour the large and relatively fragile targets to pieces.  
All three of these Battleships and their architects would turn to chaos.  
Since then the Despoiler has become yet faster, and has a far more deadly arsenal of lances and strike craft.

The Despoiler is armed with a pair of Heavy Lances, both capable of firing directly forward or over the broadsides of the ship, and a centre mounted battery of dorsal lances for fending off escorts and finishing crippled opponents. She also has two lots of Weapon Batteries on each broadside of the ship, and a number of weapon batteries flanking and protecting the large prow mounted launch bay; a further 2 launch bays being found on the broadsides of the ship directly behind the prow section.  
This fearsome array of weapons makes her a deadly opponent, especially at long range: where her lances, long range weapon batteries and strike craft swarms can overwhelm an opponent before they are even given a chance to close in and return fire. Her high speed making this range advantage all the more crushing, as she is difficult to catch with anything larger than cruiser, but anything smaller than a Battleship is quickly overwhelmed by the catastrophic damage the Despoiler can dish out.

The Despoiler would see action in Chaos service from M39 onwards, destroying entire cruiser flotillas and convoys before word of the attack could even reach a retaliation fleet, a Despoiler attack very rarely leaving any survivors to tell the tale of the savage assault.  
But the next major engagement would be the Gothic War of M41. The remaining 3 original Battleships and their younger chaos-born sisters served as the spearhead to the Chaos offensive, being the head of the lethal dagger aimed at the heart of the Imperium. They proved deadly against any opponent, the Despoiler getting a re-match with its nemesis, the Emperor Class, and proving to now be a far worthier opponent of the lordly Imperial Vessel, a number of Emperor Class Battleships being reduced to drifting hulks before the advance of Chaos.

 **Desolator Class Battleship**

 **Size** : 8 KM long, 2.9 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 201,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.2 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 8 battleship class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 24 'Hector' Heavy Plasma-macro cannons (12 per broadside, dorsally mounted), 6 Lance batteries (3 per broadside), 1 Lance turret (dorsal/prow mounted), 6 prow torpedo launchers

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : The Desolator is a vessel with mysterious and long-lost origins dating back to the very earliest days of the Imperium, using technology now long-lost to the Imperium, the design believed to have been in service with the Imperium from M31-M34 before the 5 existing vessels defected to Chaos for (mostly) unknown reasons (one of them, the Torment, being captured by Chaos forces in M33). The most infamous among them being the first to defect, believed to have Defected in M33, the renamed Eternity of Pain has since destroyed seven Loyal Imperial Battleships of various classes and countless smaller vessels: continuing to elude the Imperium to this day.  
The original design of the Desolator is rumoured to have served as the basis for the Apocalypse Class, her large armament of long-range lances mirroring her loyal counterpart, and the small numbers of the ship being constructed possibly being prototypes for the technology used on the Apocalypse. However, none of this is known for certain, as neither warship are understood well by the Mechanicus and records have been long-lost.

The Desolator is armed with full broadsides of long-range lances, a large number of Dorsal Weapon batteries and prow mounted torpedo launchers. This, together with her high speed, allows her to hold opponents at long range where she can tear into them with long range weapon batteries and lances; using her prow torpedoes to disperse any enemies attempting to close with her.  
This lethal long range armament and speeds has made the Desolator a true menace for any Imperial fleet, being deadly to a ship of any size, kiting her Battleship rivals with her speed as her lances rip through their thick hides and tearing apart anything smaller in mere seconds under a barrage of Torpedoes, Lance bolts and Plasma projectiles.

The Desolator has been seen in service with chaos in raids and offensives across the Imperium, most notable being the prior-mentioned Eternity of Pain which continues to reap a bloody toll on the Imperial Navy's Battleships, and a number took part in the Gothic War. The Desolators proved instrumental to Chaos forces during this Black Crusade, able to cause crippling damage to the imposing and deadly Imperial Battleships as well as provide an excellent platform for orbital bombardment of key Imperial Worlds. The large number of lances capable of accurate surgical strikes to annihilate Imperial cities or destroy planets outright with a full-power broadside.  
The class served as Heavy Fire support throughout the war, destroying hard targets and stitching Imperial formations with a barrage of Lance strikes to allow the cruisers chance to unleash their own lethal firepower without fear of retaliation.

 **Desecrator Class Battleship**

 **Size** : 8 KM long, 2.9 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 224,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 8 battleship class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 6 Lance batteries (3 per broadside), 3 Lance turrets (dorsal and dorsal/prow mounted), 2 hanger bays (1 per broadside), 6 prow torpedo launchers

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters, 100 Swift Death fighters, 144 Hell Talons/Hell Blades, 54 Doom Fire bombers, 66 Dread Class Assault pods

 **Lore** : The Desecrator Class is a recent Chaos modification of the Desolator Class Battleship made at the request of Abaddon the Despoiler in preparation for the Gothic War. The Purpose of the design was to increase the, already large number, of Attack Carriers in the Chaos Armada and expand the Chaos Battleship fleet; to allow for more spearhead vessels meaning a greater number of avenues of attack. The idea being to swamp Imperial forces under an assault from multiple fronts across an area of space covering hundreds of planets each, stretching any Imperial reinforcements thin and wide, to allow for the Battlefleet to be easily overwhelmed in small chunks at a time.

The Desecrator Class bares many similarities to the Desolator she is based off of in both appearance and armament.  
Retaining the frontal torpedo launchers and most of the lance batteries; however some changes have been made to the armaments of the vessel. For one the Desecrator has a dorsal lance mounted overlooking the prow of the Battleship, as well as along the spine of the ship, and a pair of launch bays replacing the two forward-most lance batteries.  
Although her carrier capacity isn't very impressive by Battleship standards, It's sufficient for systematically taking apart enemy Cruisers and escorts as well as provide an extra defence against torpedo and strike craft assaults. The frontal lance, in combination with these strike craft and the torpedo launchers, giving her impressive frontal firepower at long range; able to cripple enemy vessels and disperse enemy formations as leads assaults into enemy battle lines. Her carrier capacity and lances also making her very well suited to the fire support role also, able to stay behind the main advance and escort them in with fighters while providing covering fire from her large number of long range lances.

The Desecrator performed well during the Gothic War.  
She proved to be an excellent break-through warship, able to apply large amounts of firepower very quickly to key areas in Imperial Battle lines and create openings for the deadly Chaos Cruisers to follow and tear the tight formations open, the battleship then providing fire support in taking out harder targets among the disorganised melee.  
Although these tactics where deadly, and dedicated Desecrator-lead assault was rarely unsuccessful in breaking up formations, her armour was not sufficient to allow for the survival of the Battleship following the initial push: Rival Imperial Battleships like the mighty Retribution even able to blunt such assaults with their awesome broadside firepower.  
But the Desecrator is still a true menace in any offensive operation, and the bane of any cruiser unlucky enough to be faced with this aggressive terror.


End file.
